No shortage of interested buyers for Barclays Africa: report
Barclays Africa Group claims there is no lack of interest from buyers seeking a stake in the company after Barclays announced that it will be selling down its stake to less than 20% over the next two to three years, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Barclays Africa Deputy CEO David Hodnett told the financial paper that Barclay’s interest, would not be “sold in the short term and a number of players will have a say in the process”.
Hodnett cautioned that it was too early to speculate on how Barclays will sell its shares, but pointed out that regulators will be looking for investors who offer “long-term stability.”
Barclays currently has a 62.3% stake in Barclays Africa, which trades as Absa in South Africa.
The Financial Times recently reported that Barclays may already have a willing bidder in former CEO, Bob Diamond, for Barclays Africa’s assets outside of South Africa.
However, Hodnett told Bloomberg that Diamond has not directly approached the African lender on buying shares in the company.
On Saturday, reports suggested that Old Mutual is planning to split itself up into standalone companies, including its stake in Nedbank, South Africa’s fourth largest bank.
Economists.co.za chief economist Mike Schussler told Fin24 suggested that Nedbank could ultimately become an acquisition target.
“I think the bank is a good bank, but the feeling is that they have not done enough in Africa. But all in all they would be an easier target than Barclays Africa which is much much bigger,” he said.
More on Barclays
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Barclays Africa may already have a willing buyer
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